Gardening For Longevity
Gardening can be such a rewarding and exciting hobby, this is a great way to connect wait nature on the great outdoors. I have been in this field for years now and have seen first hand what can happen when we commit to the soil.
Taking a step into the world of gardening will take you on an adventure where those creative juices will flow bringing much flavor to and environment like non-other, in fact, the first job that was given to man is recorded in the bible where a man was told by God to take care of the earth so gardening span from the beginning of time.
I have a question for you, have you ever turned and an area that was drabbed and run down into a work of art? it may have been remodeling a house or your home, what about a kitchen or a bathroom, your office, how about your car giving it a nice paint job restoring it to its former glory, whatever it was at the end of the day it brought you much pleasure as you stood back and enjoyed the change, felt good I would say.
Now imagine restoring your garden or adding a garden, the change which it brought was truly amazing. The world of gardening has so many benefits, below, however, we will be discussing how a garden can help in keeping you in good health extending your years which is a win-win for you.
Gardening can help you live to 100
Two patients
I read an article many years ago about two patients which were involved in an experiment to show the effects which garden plants have on the lives of and individual, one of the patients was placed in a room that did not have a window, while the other patient was placed in a room with a window that overlooked a beautiful garden.
What the test showed was that the patient who had the garden view recovered much faster than the patient which did not have a garden view. There is just something about garden scenery that has a physiological effect on our mental and physical well being.
The benefits Gardening
Before getting into gardening decide which type of garden you want, there are so many to chose from, for more on the many garden types check-out the category section of this website. Here are just a few of the many garden types you will find in the category section.
- Butterfly Gardens
- Hummingbird Gardens
- Flower Gardens
- Portable Gardens
- Rooftop Gardens
- Apartment Gardens
- Plastic Bottle Gardens
- Cottage Gardens
- Vintage Gardens
Physical Exercise
Gardening can bring that much-needed exercise, one of the main causes of a person’s health that deteriorates can be linked or traced back to a lack of physical activity. When we exercise this raises the blood flow which increases the oxygen level in the body.
Exercising also helps with the insulin level, lowers our blood pressure, helps to lower our risk of heart attack, coronary artery disease, high cholesterol, and also helps to manage our blood sugar level and all of this can happen from simply starting a home garden.
Gardening reduces mental stress
We live in a world where the stress level is high, stress can cause so many things to go wrong in our bodies. Our homes, our jobs, and dealing with other issues can bring on stress. The doctor’s office is filled on a daily basis with persons with health issues which is stress-related.
The hormone which is responsible for this is cortisol when we engage in physical activity this lowers the cortisol and what better way to take control than by getting involved in gardening.
Gardening will increase your mental state
There is something about working on the great outdoors that will put you in a better mental state as we discussed at the beginning of this post with the two patients’ example. The sight of a well-kept garden will cause chemicals to be released which will put us in a more relaxed and happy state.
This has been my experience on many occasions working both on the interior (interior plantscape) and the outdoors as a groundsman. Just to see a bed of flowers that are blooming so beautifully under your care or a herb/vegetable garden where you are reaping the rewards of your labor is pretty amazing.
Gardening can strengthen a family bond
A happy home is a healthy home, in today’s world where it seems as if families don’t have much time for each other because for whatever reason gardening can help to strengthen that bond. Working together as a family on a garden project can make a happy home.
This time shared should not only be focused on gardening but a time when individuals within that family can share what they are going through and what their personal life is like. This is also a time just to relax letting your hair down so to speak with much fun and laughter, you will be amazed how sharing that quality time in the garden can bring that much-needed change.
Strengthening the community
Believe it or not but gardening can strengthen a community bringing people together as they create and strengthen their bond. Take, for instance, an urban garden where everybody gets involved in creating friendship and providing food for the whole community ( vegetable/herb gardens ) remember we are our brother’s keepers. What a great way for neighbors to interact.
$aving that hard-earned dollar
Stress can also be linked to not having enough money, but the good news is that creating a garden will help to lower your stress level, how can creating a garden such as a vegetable or an herb garden help you to save on that grocery bill? through savings. Your savings may be small at first but giving it time will cause those savings to build which you can use on a project or even taking that long needed vacation. Give it a try you will be surprised.
Gardening to create healthy minds
This is a great way to pass the buck on to the next generation, educating children about gardening and nature will open a whole new world of opportunity to them as they are taught the importance of being self-sustained, this can also help children to decide if they want to get into this field on a wider scale during their adult life. I was involved in gardening as a kid and have made a career out of it.
Getting those much-needed vitamins
Vitamin D is so vital to our health what better way to get this vitamin than by getting involved in gardening and the good news is it is all free by being exposed to the nice warm sun.
Growing healthy food crops
A healthy person is a happy person, in today’s world many of the food crops which are grown have chemicals which can have an adverse effect on our health and can drain our wallets ( doctor’s fee ) growing our own food crops organically or without the use of chemicals will help us to save money on that grocery bill and the doctor’s office.
Additional Information
Gardening can be so much fun that brings great rewards however caution should be taken to avoid injuries, the last thing we want is to defeat the purpose of why we garden. Check out the category section of this website which talks about garden safety.
The final word
Gardening was the first physical activity that was given to man by God from the beginning of time, the world of gardening is so exciting. As mentioned earlier there are many garden types to choose from which have their benefits so add years to your life by getting involved in physical activity as gardening has proven to work wonders as we connect with nature on the great outdoors.
About the author
Norman loves being in the garden, both at home and for his job....
he is 'Natures Little helper' being outdoors, growing his vegetables and flowers from an early age.
Now having spent over 22 years in the profession he want to give some of his knowledge to others...
his vast array of hints and tips you will find scattered over this site will help you no end growing plants in your garden.
Wow, there are so many benefits of gardening that I had not thought about in the past. It’s good to see that through gardening I can live longer and I get healthier. It’s the first time anyone has given me information about the advantages of gardening and this is only making me fall more in love with my garden. Unfortunately, my garden is not close to my window, lol but at least it helps me with my exercise. Nice post here!
Having a garden is pretty amazing and do has its advantages, so good to hear that you have a garden and is getting on the great outdoors to enjoy nature while getting that much-needed exercise.
I totally agree with you that gardening is such a blessing that God has given to man but due to our ignorance, most of us do not value it. It is indeed amazing the things that gardening can do to us and it can really help us to get going in life
while gardening, we engage in exercises unknowingly and also, it helps to alleviate our state of mind with such beauty that we often forget things that bother us. I lobe gardening a lot and I will never give up on it. Thanks
Gardening has so many benefits which are a blessing from God and we should get out there on the great outdoors and get involved to maintain our health. This is a great hobby, all the best to you.
Perhaps, this is what I need. I currently have this challenge of regrowing my hair in the head and to my dismay, after spending several dollars on hair growers, there’s very little progress. Although there are small hairs now growing, I believe that the stress in my work is contributing negatively to my goal of regrowing my hair. If only there’s not much stress or my stress is reduced to a low level, I would have got a better result with my goal.
As far as therapy and reducing stress is concerned, which do you think would be better for me to start gardening again? A flower garden or a vegetable garden?
It all depends on your need, if you start a flower garden it will be for beauty but if a vegetable garden it will be for food. If you can’t decide but you have the yard space then why not have the two just separate them this way you get the best of both worlds. A garden for beauty and a garden for food. All the best with your garden project and please let me know how it goes.
I absolutely agree with you. Because I have started gardening from just two years before after the doctor asked to do physical activities. And I seen my transformation, it was physical as well as mental. I feel so fresh in my mind that I can’t explain. I work online, so most of the time I stay home and didn’t do that much physical activities and for this reason, I got too many health issue-high cholesterol, back pain, anxiety and so on. But after starting gardening I am feeling much better.
Working on the great outdoors has so many benefits, I am so happy to hear that the garden is helping you. Wishing you the best of good health and do continue to enjoy your gardening. All the best to you and have a good day.
It is so consoling to know that Gardening can help one live to 100. Reading through this post is one of the best things that have happened to me in this month possibly possibly because of my bias for wanting to live long impacting my generation.
I really found this post really helpful. I had been into Gardening since when I was a teenager and as a matter of fact, Gardening is one of my hobbies but I never knew that it could be this rewarding and exciting.
Thank you so much for this piece.
So happy to help, gardening does have its benefits and can help us to live longer which is so amazing. All the best to you and have a good day.
You paint a wonderful picture of the benefits of having a beautiful garden, it doesn’t have to be justowers and shrubs, a garden full of your very own home grown vegetables can be so fulfilling, not only that your own vegetables won’t have sprays or pesticides on them so they will taste even better and be good for you. The article that you refer to about the positive effects of having a garden should not be overlooked it’s interesting that the person who looked out at a garden recovered much faster. You also go into how to go about having so many different types of garden, how good it is for our physical wellbeing as well as our mental wellbeing. How many years have you been gardening? did someone give you an interest in gardening?
All the best
Fintan
Hello again, gardening has so many benefits, I have been in this field now for almost 25 years and have received many certifications from courses which I took over the years. So happy to help and all the best to you.
Oh this is a very good one I must say. No wonder mum is still very healthy even at her old age. You must’ve done some very good research to be able to come up with this facts. I have learnt a very big deal from this one that you have written here. Gardens can also help with exercise. Maybe I too should own my own garden too. It’ll be a very good thing for me.
Gardening has so many benefits that it is just mind-blowing, I have been gardening now for almost 25 years so I know first hand about gardening. So happy to help, all the best to you with your gardening project and have a good work day.
Thank you Norman for this very interesting article.
I like that you mentioned the benefits of gardening on health and that it can reduce stress because when you garden you forget your other troubles. I garden occasionally but I am a lover of beautiful well landscaped grounds.
Congratulations on an article that touches on the important points of the benefits of gardening.
I am so happy that you liked my article. Gardening is so important and benefits us in so many ways. Have a good day.
If I had been procrastinating about getting out into the garden, which I have, then your article has given me the much needed push to make amends. It has to be said that our rear garden has been neglected for the last fifteen years, at least. The main reason and a valid one, is that it has been primarily used for the children and we wanted them to be able to enjoy without fear of ruining anything that might be planted.
Those times have now moved on and it’s time for a makeover. This week I have been searching for inspiration. You article has cemented my feeling that I need to just get out there and start work. After the last Winter had been and gone and Spring, joyously came about, I took to general tidying duties. The sense of satisfaction it bought was priceless. When I look out across the rear expanse I am filled with an immense sense of achievement. Everything is neat, nothing is overgrown and the lawn, although not in the best condition, looks healthy.
I shall be working my way through your ‘types’ of garden to see if there is something that takes my fancy, so to speak. I have no doubt there will be. Summer is coming to a close but there will still be plenty of days left to get out and enjoy the outdoors.
I am so happy to hear that. Gardening is pretty amazing and can help us in so many ways. Wishing you the best of success with your garden projects. All the best to you and have a good day.
That’s quite an interesting story, about the two patients and the view over a garden. I can imagine that it can provide some benefits to our own state of mind as well.
Anyway, what I really wanted to comment on was the statement that a garden can help strengthen a community and I couldn’t agree more. There’s this apartment complex where I live, where all the neighbors come together to work in the garden during summer.
Most of them are elderly people who are retired, but we also have some younger folks who help out when they have days off work. It’s such a nice thing to see everyone work together and gives the neighbors in the area kind of a feeling that everybody knows each other.
Thanks for sharing and have an awesome day! 🙂
/Mike
Hey Norman,
Great read. You took me back to my younger years when I used to help my parents with gardening and yard work. It does relieve stress, but you’ve opened my eyes to a lot of other things. I guess it’s time to get my hands dirty again.
Thanks
Wadud